May 8, 2009

Box Score

Stockton, Calif. - The Pacific baseball team tried to knock off yet another nationally ranked team and came close to doing so early on against No. 1 UC Irvine, before the Tigers allowed three run-scoring innings to decide an 11-6 defeat at the hands of the nation's best squad.

With the loss, the Tigers dropped to an 18-26 overall record and 8-11 in the Big West Conference, as UC Irvine improved to 35-11 and an almost perfect 15-1 conference mark.

Senior LHP Joey Centanni (San Diego, Calif.) took the loss for the Tigers, while LHP Daniel Bibona improved to his ninth win this season.

The Tigers scored first in the game, behind three scoreless innings from Centanni. With one out in the bottom of the third, sophomore Nick Longmire (San Diego, Calif.) singled to center field to start off a Pacific rally. In the next at-bat, Centanni grounded out to first base, but allowed for Longmire to move into scoring position at second base. That gave way for sophomore J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas) to launch a double down the right field line and drive in the Tigers' first run as they took a 1-0 lead.

UC Irvine came back with three runs off Centanni in the top of the fifth and went ahead 3-1, but Pacific stuck with it and answered with four more that inning.

Leading off the bottom half of the fifth, junior Ben Gorang (Turlock, Calif.) was hit by a pitch from Bibona, putting a runner at first. Longmire came back with yet another hit, singling to advance Gorang to second. Brown then grounded to the first baseman, Jeff Cusick, as Gorang was looking to come home the entire time. However, Cusick kicked the ball out of play and all runners advanced two bases. Gorang came home and the Tigers cut their deficit, 3-2.

One out later, sophomore Brian Martin (Livermore, Calif.) hit a shallow sacrifice fly to left field, bringing Longmire home as Pacific tied up the score 3-3. Keeping the rally alive, senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.) doubled to left center for his 20th double of 2009. Both Brown and Centanni came around to score, to give Wideman the go-ahead RBI for a total of two. The Tigers then went up 5-3 on the scoreboard over the top-ranked Anteaters.

That put Wideman in a tie for the most doubles this season in the Big West Conference. Wideman also tied senior Mike McKeever's (San Diego, Calif.) 2008 record of 20 doubles in a single-season for third best in Pacific all-time history. And tying another record, Wideman is now in fourth place in Pacific's career top 10 doubles history, with 40 in his career.

But UC Irvine persisted and finally got to the Tigers' starter, launching two back-to-back deep home runs to tie the game again at 5-5 in the sixth. The Anteaters took Centanni out of the game and put up a total of five runs in the sixth against relievers junior LHP Jamie Niley (Elk Grove, Calif.) and senior RHP Cole Akins (Seattle, Wash.).

UC Irvine put up three more in the seventh to put the game away. The Tigers tried to get some momentum going in the bottom of the ninth, as they trailed 11-5. But Pacific could only record one final run to fall 11-6.

Both teams return for the second game of the three-game series at 5:35 p.m. on Saturday, May 9.